New Semester

So, I'm a Senior Painting major now. I have my own studio all set up with Rachelle as my studio partner. so far so good. For this semester I have decided to do paintings of bugs! Lately I have been really inspired by nature. I have been researching bugs and insects as part of my inspiration. There are so many different species of insects and so many different colors and forms. It’s really quite amazing. I want to do paintings of details of various beetles and insects to the point where they are abstracted. I will use colors and forms inspired by these bugs. I will play around with composition and work with ideas I learned in Structure and Transformation, like points, color relationships, and use of brush stroke. There will be a lot of symmetry due to the natural symmetry found in nature and a sense of texture. I want to possibly incorporate sewing into my work this semester. I would like to use different colored threads and different stitches to create patterns and images while incorporating paint. My goal is to have at least two or three paintings completed by each critique. I would like to work with a canvas size of about 2-3 ft by 3-4ft, and a little bigger.

So all in all, I'm pretty excited for this semester. Also, I decided as of today not to get the Minor in Art History that I was planning on getting. it will just make this semester so much easier, and with getting a job and all, I'm going to need all the time I can get!

Tara Donovan

Tara Donovan is a sculpturist who uses small, everyday objects to create large scale, beautifully intricate installations. She installs her work on floors, walls, and hanging from the ceiling. Her color palette is limited for each piece because she only uses one object in varying lengths and widths. He work is amazing. I was very inspired by her for my last sculpture piece with the wax and plaster peppers. Here are a few images of her work:





































































More images of her work can be found at http://www.acegallery.net/artistmenu.php?pageNum_ACE=0&totalRows_ACE=58&Artist=8

Sewing projects

I made this sweet clutch with pockets inside for Taylor last year for her birthday. I have yet to make another one, which is really stupid because this one turned out so cool. It was the first clutch I ever attempted. I really like the fabric. I've actually used this same fabric to make a headboard and some curtains for another friend.




I really want to work on making more bags, headbands and such. It's so easy, I've just gotten lazy. I recently made myself a head board too. It turned out pretty well, but needs a few minor adjustments. I'll upload pictures when it's done.

Projects like these are so nice because they are creative, but a break from all the conceptual nonsense the school forces on us. With these I can just be creative and do what feels right without having to worry about how I'm going to have to explain it all. Unfortunately though, with all that school demands I don't get much time to work on these kinds of things. Hopefully I can manage to put some time aside this year to do more fun things like this.

The End of Summer

Summer classes have finally ended and now I'll have two weeks of relaxing before I get back to the daily grind of classes. This school year is going to be a great one though. I can just tell. My last sculpture project turned out to be amazing! I ended up only using Bell Peppers and I filled them with wax and Plaster. I really like the contrast of the different materials.

The textures left behind in the wax/plaster are absolutely beautiful. They look like teeth or icebergs. Here are a few images for your viewing pleasure:
(Click images to see larger)

I really want to make more, but this was an expensive project for the twenty-six I did make. Maybe sometime in the future. I would also like to try different vegetables, and figure out different ways of installation. But for now I am very pleased with my last project.

Conceptual Exploration

I know it has been quite a while since my last post, and I apologize for that. It has been a busy few weeks with summer classes winding down this week. In Photography I am working on my final portfolio, which includes images from the Capturing Community project and from the Constructed image project.

In Sculpture, my final project is going to be about bringing the inside out. I am going to carve out various fruits and vegetables, pour hot wax into them, then remove the outer fruit/vegetable and just have the inner wax with the texture of the inside on the outside. In this sculpture class I've really been trying to improve my concept lately. I've really been trying to reach out and try new concepts that I have never thought of or worked with before. It's been really interesting. I definitely want to go back to several of these concepts in my paintings for Advanced this year.

My concepts so far have been dealing with my circular thought process and how destructive it can be; How thinking the same thoughts over and over isn't getting me anywhere positive. I also worked with anger and how people express their anger, and how people cope with living with a person who has issues with controlling their anger. People living with them often feel like they must walk on eggshells and not upset them. It can be very taxing. My last project was about the bad joints in my body and how I have to rely on vitamins and Tylenol for joint pain.

Anyway, Just a few things for me to think about. Fall semester is rapidly approaching. I'm excited to have all of my friends back together again, but extremely nervous for advanced painting to start.

I'll leave you with a new artist I just discovered. Her name is Beatriz Milhazes. She is a modernist painter known for her bright colors and juxtaposing Western and Brazilian themes. Her work has an amazing sense of movement and excitement. She uses many different forms of patterns. Many artists I have been coming across lately use patterning in very interesting ways. I think I'm going to try to incorporate it into my own work and see where it takes me.